The Tigers are inching closer to getting Riley Greene back, and that’s where the easy part ends.
Detroit has been without its best kind of lineup jolt since Greene went down with a right hamstring strain and landed on the 10-day injured list Aug. 12.
Since then, he’s kept moving forward in Lakeland, Fla., doing running, hitting and defensive work while MLB’s Tigers injury tracker has pointed to the end of August or the beginning of September as the target window. He’s also expected to rejoin the club in Detroit as he keeps ramping up his baseball activity.
On paper, the fix is obvious. Greene was hitting .273/.366/.450 with 16 home runs and 54 RBI before the injury, production the Tigers can plug right back into the middle of the order. But bringing that bat back into the mix could leave AJ Hinch and the front office with a tougher call than they expected.
That’s because the outfield reps didn’t just disappear while Greene was sidelined. They got redistributed, and Brett Callahan made the most noise with his chance.
Detroit selected Callahan’s contract from Triple-A Toledo on Aug. 16, and he wasted no time announcing himself. On the first pitch of his Major League career, he ripped a two-run triple, becoming the first Tigers player in 114 years to triple in his first Major League plate appearance, according to MLB.
Two days later, he added his first Major League home run against the Pittsburgh Pirates. MLB’s Statcast had that shot leaving his bat at 110.3 mph and traveling 392 feet.
Max Clark has also been getting regular run in center field, and he remains one of the organization’s most important young players. That puts Detroit in a familiar but tricky spot: the Tigers want to keep evaluating their prospects, but they’re also trying to stay afloat in the AL Wild Card race.
And it’s not just Greene. The outfield injury list has been crowded, with Kerry Carpenter, Parker Meadows, Matt Vierling, Wenceel Pérez and James Outman all appearing on the club’s injury report.
So while Greene’s return should help the lineup immediately, it won’t arrive in a vacuum. Detroit isn’t getting everyone back at once, and some of those timelines are still much murkier than others. Greene may end up being the first big test of how the Tigers balance veteran production against the younger players who seized their openings.
Callahan could be the first name squeezed when that corresponding move comes. If he keeps hitting, though, Detroit may have to look at a different solution.
For now, the Tigers just want Greene back where he belongs. The harder part is figuring out what comes next.
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Now the Tigers are planning to use Sears as a bulk reliever in an upcoming bullpen game, which gives him a chance to show he can handle more than just a cameo. For a club that values pitchers who can miss bats and throw strikes, the recent gains in his command and strikeout rate make this a meaningful test, even if the assignment itself is only temporary for now. [Read more 🡒]